We are at heart, a practical nation. My husband is constantly amused by our naming conventions – Table Mountain for instance. Solid, practical, no nonsense. It does what it says on the tin. The South African vocabulary is littered with similar examples and I like that about us.
I found another one this weekend – Hartford House. As we were informed on our tour of the grounds, it is not named for its foreign cousin in the UK, but for more practical reasons in that it was the site that local wildlife (like Hartebeest) chose to ford the river on their regular migrations.
For those who don’t know it, Hartford House is the old homestead at Summerhill Stud. If you have not visited, I strongly suggest you add it to your bucket list immediately. Preferably several times over. Horsey folk believe that on the 8th day God went riding. Having visited, I now believe he went riding at Summerhill !
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Hartford House
Hartford House is, at its core, a family home and its welcoming, open-doored hospitality is apparent in every detail. Our gracious hostess has decorated it sumptuously and luxuriously, but with a focus on elegant practicality. I am no interior design guru, but like the stories and experiences one collects during your life, Hartford is littered with a whimsical mix of art, furniture and the sort of touches and small details that are impossible to assemble deliberately to quite the same effect. Every piece has a purpose and a story. Even the plants in the garden are part of a tradition whereby family members exchanged gifts of plants at anniversaries. Yes, Hartford House is a five star hotel, an award-winning restaurant, a spa and wedding venue and it excels at all these things. But what it does best is make you feel comfortable, at ease and in short, at home. It now simply invites a slightly wider group of friends.
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The Stallions
Look back at our struggle for freedom, Trace our present day’s strength to its source; And you’ll find that man’s pathway to glory, Is strewn with the bones of the horse ~ Author Unknown
The story of how Northern Guest helped build and shape Summerhill is woven into the lore of the farm. The love and reverence for this stallion and his successors are everywhere, from the plaques on the pots at the entrance gate, guest room names to the little lane commemorating great stallions of the past. You can almost imagine him up on a hill somewhere keeping an eye over it all.
I am a big fan of stallions and offered the opportunity to attend the morning’s round of coverings was too good to pass up, so 7am found us (almost) ready to hit the road. We whizzed through gently rolling fields of Rubenesque mares strolling contentedly in the sunshine until we reached the stallion barn. Greig Muir met us at the entrance, ran us through the morning’s schedule and then let us loose in the barn. I have been especially keen to meet the new Team Valor stallion, Visionaire and he repaid my enthusiasm by offering his tongue through the bars of his door. I solemnly gave it a tug and our friendship was sealed. Visionaire is an exceptionally strong, robust individual with what seemed an outstandingly easy going and generous temperament. It is easy to see why he caught the eye of Barry Irwin and this multiple Gr1 winning stallion makes a welcome addition to the Summerhill arsenal.
I’d read the press releases on Brave Tin Soldier when he arrived and was particularly keen to see him in the flesh. He is a one of those hot-blooded types whose Arabian ancestry is immediately visible in the finely tapered head, fluted nostrils and neat, classical conformation. As I’d expected, I liked him enormously. However, with a group of stallions with the depth and breadth of what Summerhill has to offer, it was impossible to choose a favourite. Ravishing was hard to resist with his flaxen mane, Admire Main is quite a serious, business-like character, Solsjkaer stood gleaming darkly in his field and Muhtafal epitomised the power that earns stallions their reputation as ultimate symbols of strength and virility.
I was interested that the stallions are nearly as carefully prepared for the breeding season as the mares. Greg explained the great care and attention that is given to their diet and fitness to see them through the rigours of the breeding season that can often include up to 4 coverings per day. It is no mean feat to maintain the quality of a stallion’s semen under such demanding conditions and Greg & the team take a sample after each covering to check under the stallion’s motility under a microscope and ensure each mare has the best possible chance of a successful visit.
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Knowledge is Power
After one of the best breakfasts I’ve had in years, we were treated to a quick tour of Hartford House itself and then it was back to the horses. Linda Norval showed us around the medical block, the mare barn, foaling barns and small paddocks where the new-borns are let out to stretch their legs for the first time. We whizzed past the School of Excellence and after hearing the curriculum, must confess that I’m sorely tempted to enrol for some of next year’s programme.
Linda mentions what an unexpectedly big impact the centre has made and says that the rewards in expanded understanding, interest and effort by the staff have been phenomenal. The philosophy of seeking out, sharing and applying the best ideas and innovations is apparent across the farm. On our way across the farm, Linda related some of the pasture and crop management practices that have been implemented. These have made such an impact, that veterinarians profess to be able to pick out Summerhill horses simply on the quality and strength of their bones.
There’s an old Chinese proverb that goes “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”. This philosophy of sharing knowledge is one of the foundations of Summerhill, as related to me over lunch by Alec Hogg. As a newbie breeder, his first season was a real baptism by fire. At the brink of despair, he asked Mick whether he could send his mares to foal at Summerhill. Mick said no. And invited him instead to spend a week with the team watching and learning how to foal down mares. This year, despite another red bag delivery, Alec was prepared and successfully foaled down an exquisite Silvano filly. The philosophy extends to the full and frank information available on each horse and probably the showcase example is the phenomenal expert panel Mick puts together to comment on the Ready To Run draft. Don’t just take his word for it – ask the experts !
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Ready To Run
Next we joined Mick Goss, Tarryn Liebenberg and Kerry Jack, appraising and instructing the Ready to Run draft. All the Ready to Run candidates have been backed and started by the Summerhill team and Mick tells me that their graduates can be relied upon to be sensible individuals who are easy to work with and cope with the challenges of the racing environment with ease. Racing stats focus on speed and ability, but it’s no good having the fastest horse on the planet, if you can’t get him into the starting stalls. So producing consistently workmanlike horses is something the farm is justifiably proud of.
Considering that it was the group’s second time on the track, I was incredibly impressed at how sensible and manageable they all were, barely turning a hair at the Emperor’s Palace signs on either side of the fence and striding out confidently along the rail. With the expression about quality horses having the look of eagles, it seemed auspicious to hear the plaintive cry of a fish eagle ring out a few times as if in approval of a chosen few. It is always difficult to make an accurate assessment at this stage, but a number of individuals caught my eye and it will be interesting to follow my picks and see how their careers unfold. Just in case, I took note of the ones the eagle liked too !
A look at the careers of previous Ready To Run graduates is a stellar who’s who of racing’s honours roll. Some carried big price tags (and big expectations), but of course everyone likes a bargain and the number of affordably priced lots who have earned their way into the history books is as impressive. There truly is something for everyone and to borrow a quote from the exquisite new Summerhill catalogue – ‘All can play, all can win. Victory goes to the hungry’.
The prospect of the R2 million Ready To Run Cup certainly adds an extra gloss to the draft, but as with all good games, you gotta have a ticket.
To view this year’s ‘tickets’, get yourself down to the Ready To Run gallops at Summerhill this Friday. Sales get under way at the TBA complex in Germiston on Sunday, 6 November 2011.
Go hungry !
